Photorhabdus luminescens is a Gram-negative, bioluminescent, pigment producing enteric bacterium, which is pathogenic to insects and has the capability to undergo phase variation. The phase I variant of P. luminescens...Photorhabdus luminescens is a Gram-negative, bioluminescent, pigment producing enteric bacterium, which is pathogenic to insects and has the capability to undergo phase variation. The phase I variant of P. luminescens exists as a mutualistic symbiont where it plays a critical role in the life-cycle of the soil-dwelling nematode, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. Both the bacterium and the nematode receive their nutritional requirements from the bioconversion of the insect host which is rich in many macromolecules such as the disaccharide, trehalose. Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide of glucose that is formed by an a-1,1-glycosidic bond and is associated with the physiology of many bacteria, insects and nematodes. Trehalose has been shown to be the most abundant storage sugar found within insect hemolymph （1%-2%）. The physicochemical properties of trehalose allow this carbohydrate to act as a stress protectant where it has been implicated with thermal stress, dehydration, and osmotic protection of many microorganisms. Due to these properties, trehalose may allow culture stability of the phase I variant in vitro and in vivo. Traits of the phase I variant that were studied in this work include bioluminescence and the production of the red anthroquinone-derived pigment. The carbohydrates that were utilized in this study were glucose and trehalose; where shake flask cultures of the phase I variant were cultured at room temperature for up to six days in carbohydrate supplemented basal media with increasing carbohydrate concentrations of 0. 1%, 0.5% and 1.0% （v/v）. Relative luminosity, pigmentation and pH were graphed as a function of time, carbohydrate used, and carbohydrate concentration. Data obtained from this study suggests that the supplementation of 1.0% trehalose, when culturing the phase I variant ofP. luminescens, can maintain bioluminosity and pigmentation over extended periods of time （five days） as compared to basal media and basal media supplemented with 1.0% glucose.展开更多
文摘Photorhabdus luminescens is a Gram-negative, bioluminescent, pigment producing enteric bacterium, which is pathogenic to insects and has the capability to undergo phase variation. The phase I variant of P. luminescens exists as a mutualistic symbiont where it plays a critical role in the life-cycle of the soil-dwelling nematode, Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. Both the bacterium and the nematode receive their nutritional requirements from the bioconversion of the insect host which is rich in many macromolecules such as the disaccharide, trehalose. Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide of glucose that is formed by an a-1,1-glycosidic bond and is associated with the physiology of many bacteria, insects and nematodes. Trehalose has been shown to be the most abundant storage sugar found within insect hemolymph （1%-2%）. The physicochemical properties of trehalose allow this carbohydrate to act as a stress protectant where it has been implicated with thermal stress, dehydration, and osmotic protection of many microorganisms. Due to these properties, trehalose may allow culture stability of the phase I variant in vitro and in vivo. Traits of the phase I variant that were studied in this work include bioluminescence and the production of the red anthroquinone-derived pigment. The carbohydrates that were utilized in this study were glucose and trehalose; where shake flask cultures of the phase I variant were cultured at room temperature for up to six days in carbohydrate supplemented basal media with increasing carbohydrate concentrations of 0. 1%, 0.5% and 1.0% （v/v）. Relative luminosity, pigmentation and pH were graphed as a function of time, carbohydrate used, and carbohydrate concentration. Data obtained from this study suggests that the supplementation of 1.0% trehalose, when culturing the phase I variant ofP. luminescens, can maintain bioluminosity and pigmentation over extended periods of time （five days） as compared to basal media and basal media supplemented with 1.0% glucose.
